Who decides lawsuits like (= in the stead of) Sin and Sˇamasˇ–
Judge my case, hand down my verdict.
Burn my warlock and my witch;
O Girra, burn my warlock and my witch;
O Girra, scorch my warlock and my witch;
O Girra, burn them;
O Girra, scorch them;
O Girra, vanquish them;
O Girra, consume them;
O Girra, consume them completely (lit. mix them together completely).The witch against whom the ritual is directed is a powerful and destructive creature,
as we learn from III 1 – 16 , the opening of the first incantation in Tablet III:
The sorceress, she who roams the streets,
Who continually intrudes into houses,
Who prowls in alleys,
Who spies about the broad ways –
She keeps looking (lit. turning) around in front and in back,
Standing in the street she turns (her) foot (movement) around,
And in the square blocks (commercial) traffic.
She robbed the fine young man of his virility,
She carried off the attractiveness of the fine young woman,
With her malignant stare she took away her charms,
She looked at the young man and (thereby) took away his vitality,
She looked at the young woman and (thereby) carried off her
attractiveness!
The witch saw me and came after me,
With her venom, she cut off (commercial) traffic,
With her spittle, she cut off my trading,
She drove away my god and goddess from my person.Again, the fire-god is asked to destroy the agency of evil in III 158 – 183 :
Hand, Hand,
Strong hand of humankind,
Which, like a lion, seized a man,
Like a bird trap, clamped down on a young man,
Like a net, overwhelmed the warrior,
Like a battle net, caught the leader,
Like a trap, covered the strong one.
O warlock and witch, may Girra burn your hand,
May Girra consume, may Girra drink, may Girra wholly consume
(lit. mix together completely),
May Girra roar at your strong hand,
You whose hand bewitched, may he burn your body,— Witchcraft literature in Mesopotamia —